In last night's concession speech Julia Gillard acknowledged the role her gender has played in her tenure as Prime Minister of Australia.

"The reaction to being the first female Prime Minister does not explain everything about my prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing about my prime ministership," she said.

Today Opposition leader Tony Abbott responded, suggesting that being a woman had very little to do with the attacks launched at her.

"99.9 per cent of the time she was under attack not for being a woman but for being an appalling prime minister and that's the test - can you do the job, are you doing the job - and the Labor party said no, she couldn't do the job,'' he said.

But prominent feminist Anne Summers says that Julia Gillard has been the subject of vitriol and bullying, often of a sexual nature, because of her gender.

"I just think it's appalling that not only was she bullied out of office but now they're not even going to give her the solace of being able to have her legacy recognised."

Summers argues that Kevin Rudd today furthered the attack by acknowledging Gillard's legacy only through the reforms she achieved as his deputy.

"By saying she did a lot of great things for women... it's a snide way of suggesting that she didn't do anything for the whole of the country," she said.